Waves of ecstasy lifted her higher and higher with each thrust until she exploded in a fiery crest of sensations. She rode the wave into the sky, rising higher and higher until she touched the very heavens above. She returned to earth on a glistening wave of satisfaction and completion.
When she opened her eyes to look at Terran, his eyes were closed and his face was taut with a culmination of explosive joy and pleasure. She reached for him and pulled him close. His body trembled against hers.
For a long moment, Bria held him, enjoying the warmth of his arms and body engulfing her. She caressed his back, marveling at the sensations pulsing through her, the remnants of shared rapture.
With a sigh, Terran rolled off her and pulled her tight against him. Bria pressed her ear against the flat planes of his chest and listened to his heart beating. She could have sworn her heart beat with the same rhythm. She’d never known such happiness. Then --
“How did you come to be inside Castle Knowles?” Terran asked quietly. “And how did you know Kathryn was in my room last night?”
Bria froze, though her heart had started racing. “Are you going to send me away again?”
“Shh,” Terran soothed, trying to draw her closer to him. But Bria resisted and Terran relaxed his hold. “Bria,” he pleaded, “how can I trust you if you will not tell me the name of my enemy? I know he’s near and you have spoken to him. Only he could have told you about Kathryn.”
“The Midnight Shadow isn’t your enemy. He is the protector of the innocent, the fighter of injustice.”
“Give me his name, Bria.”
Bria sat up and looked at Terran. “Why won’t you believe me?” She clenched her fists before her. “Why don’t you listen to me? Why aren’t you looking into my accusations against Kenric? He is your enemy, not the Midnight Shadow.” She sighed and dropped her hands to her lap. She loved him so much. She wanted him to understand, to know what Kenric was doing and planning. She wanted to protect Terran and work with him. But he was refusing her. With a growl of frustration, she jumped out of bed and reached for her cloak. As she picked it up, her sword fell from its folds.
Terran watched with widening eyes as the weapon clattered against the stone floor. A scowl etched his brow. “What’s this?”
The answer came to her lips in an instant, the culmination of her frustration and anger. “You did not think I would return to Castle Knowles, to Kenric, without a weapon, did you?”
He guffawed. “What good is a sword if you don’t know how to use it? Wouldn’t a dagger have been more fitting?”
Bria shrugged, but inside she seethed at his presumption, the presumption of all men who saw women as defenseless creatures, as stupid as they were weak. She answered with a similar presumption. “The bigger the weapon, the greater the defense.”
Terran chuckled at such foolishness, not detecting her sarcasm.
Bria pulled on the brown robe, making sure to keep her back to him so the Midnight Shadow’s cloak was well hidden in her sleeve. She tied the sack with her costume to her waist. When she looked at Terran, he’d pulled on his leggings and was slipping his tunic over his head. Their magical moment was gone. Long gone. “You’re going to have me banned from the castle again, aren’t you?”
“Listen to me,” Terran begged, taking her hands in his. “I must make things right before I can ask you to join me. I cannot endanger your life.”
“Let me help you. Let me be by your side.”
“And have you poisoned again? Never.” He lifted his fingertips to her cheek. “I will do right by my people. I will rid the land of the Midnight Shadow. Then you can return.”
Just as joy had begun to brim in her heart, the bubble burst at his words. Rid the land of the Midnight Shadow? But that meant her. She wanted more than anything to stay with him, wanted to be his wife in every way. But now the Midnight Shadow stood between them. She threw her arms around him, holding him close. “I love you, Terran, with all my heart. I would do anything to make it right between us. And if you think knowing who the Midnight Shadow is will do that, then so be it. There will be no more secrets.” She said it to herself as much as to him. With a deep breath, she pulled away and looked up into his eyes. “The Midnight Shadow is –”
Suddenly, the door flew open and Kenric rushed in, followed by four guards.
“M’lord,” Kenric panted. “The entire castle has been searched. He...” Kenric’s voice faded. “Lady Bria?”
“Search the castle again,” Terran ordered. “I will not make the mistake of opening the gates and have him slip through my fingers.”
Kenric nodded. “As you wish, m’lord.”
As the guards left the room, Terran called, “John!”
One of the men, the youngest by the looks of his boyish face, turned and came back. “Yes, m’lord?”
Terran held up a finger for him to wait. He turned to Bria. “You were saying?”
Bria swiveled her gaze to the guard and then to Terran. She wanted desperately to tell him, but she didn’t know if the guard was one of Kenric’s men and she hesitated, finally shaking her head.
Terran’s lips thinned, and he addressed the guard. “I want you to escort Lady Bria back to her castle.”
“No,” Bria gasped.
“Take Pavia with you,” he told the guard. “No harm is to befall her, do you understand me?”
“Yes, m’lord.” John nodded.
“Terran, please don’t do this,” Bria begged. “You need my help.”
Terran took her hands into his own. “John is one of my most trusted men. He’ll see you safely to Castle Delaney.”
“I don’t want to leave you!” Bria objected.
“For just a little while longer. Do this one thing for me, Bria.”
Bria started to shake her head, but Terran brought her knuckles to his lips.
“Please,” he whispered.
Bria wanted to say no, to demand she remain by his side. But he was looking at her with those large eyes, imploring her to do his bidding. Finally, she nodded and turned away to John.
She stepped out into the hallway to find Kenric standing there. “Do not worry, m’lady,” he said mockingly. “We’ll find the Midnight Shadow. He will not harm Lord Knowles.”
Bria’s eyes narrowed. “The Midnight Shadow would never consider it.” She quickly stepped past him. Satisfaction surged inside her. The ‘man’ he was searching for was being escorted safely out of the castle.
By midday, Kenric and his men had searched the castle again. There was no sign of the Midnight Shadow.
“He’s escaped,” Kenric told Terran. “We’ve searched the entire castle three times over.”
Terran thoughtfully chewed his venison. He sat in the Great Hall, eating his midday meal. A dog sniffed at the rushes near his feet, searching for a piece of dropped food. A servant stopped to refill his mug with ale. But not Kenric, the dogs, nor the servants occupied Terran’s mind. Bria did.
“Damn that rogue,” Kenric continued.
Bria had known Kathryn had been in his room.
“I just don’t understand how he entered the castle undetected.”
Yes. And how had Bria gotten into the castle without anyone’s knowing?
“Cousin, are you listening to me?” Kenric asked.
And there was that sword. What in heaven’s name was she doing with a sword? Even if Kenric tried to hurt her again, did she believe she could wield a sword like a man?
“He must have used some sort of disguise,” Kenric went on, pacing back and forth before the table.
But something else was bothering Terran. It was the Midnight Shadow’s eyes. So damned blue. The bluest eyes he’d ever seen, except for... he straightened slightly. Good Lord! Had he missed the signs?
“If we want to capture the Midnight Shadow,” Kenric said, facing Terran once again, “we’ll have to put your plan into action.”
Terran lifted his gaze to Kenric, but he wasn’t listening. It couldn’t be! Had he been
blind to the truth when it stared him in the face? It can’t be! his mind repeated. She is a woman! She is my wife!
“My lord?”
Bria couldn’t be the Midnight Shadow. God’s blood! He had to know. He had to know that his wife was not the one stealing from him. “Yes,” Terran murmured. “Announce the execution for tomorrow.”
MIDNIGHT SHADOW
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Bria arrived at Castle Delaney that evening. Her grandfather raced out of the keep to greet her in the inner courtyard, as did numerous servants and concerned peasants. Bria hugged her grandfather, but was surprised her father was nowhere to be seen.
“He is searching the countryside for you,” Harry explained. “Are you all right?”
Bria nodded. “I couldn’t find Mary, Grandfather. Kenric moved her.”
Harry stared at her in sympathy. “At least you tried.”
“And I will try again and again until she is free.”
Her father returned hours later and summoned her to his solar. When she was younger, a trip to his solar had spelled fierce discipline. She knew she was in trouble. And what father in his right mind wouldn’t discipline his daughter when she’d been missing an entire night?
She entered her father’s solar and closed the door behind her. A colorful tapestry depicting a coronation hung on one of the walls. To her right a warm fire flickered in the hearth, and a large bed stood near the far wall. Just before her, four chairs surrounded a wooden table engraved with knights and horses.
Bria stood at the door, urgently wanting to leave as soon as possible so she could plan her rescue of Mary.
“What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I didn’t mean to stay out all night,” she admitted, “but I couldn’t get home.”
“What do you mean?” her father demanded.
Bria looked down at her entwined hands. “I missed Terran, and I wanted so much to see him,” she said quietly. At least that much was true.
“I told him,” a voice said.
Bria whirled to find her grandfather standing just inside the door of the solar.
“Forgive me, child,” he said. “But when you were missing this morning, I had no choice.”
“I do not appreciate being lied to and deceived, Bria,” her father said, drawing her gaze once again.
“It wasn’t like that, Father,” she pleaded. “I never meant to lie to you. But the less you knew, the better off you were. This was something I had to do.”
“Something you had to do? Dressing up as a man and stealing the taxes? Don’t you realize your life is in danger?”
“Every moment,” she admitted. “But if I don’t protect those people, who will? It is my duty as Terran’s wife –”
“To behave like a criminal?”
“To take care of the people now.”
“Your duty now is to do as your husband wishes. I’m sure he wouldn’t want you stealing his coin.”
“It’s my coin as well,” Bria argued.
“Tell her,” Harry urged.
Her father’s lips thinned, but he remained silent.
“She has a right to know,” Harry said. “If you don’t, I will.”
“Knowles is going to execute Mary at dusk tomorrow,” her father whispered.
“What?” Bria gasped.
“I heard it when I was looking for you.”
“They’re going to execute an innocent woman!”
“Talk to your husband,” her father suggested.
Bria waved her hand. “He won’t listen to me.”
“You don’t need to take up the sword. There are other ways.”
“There is only one way!”
“Never mind that,” Harry said. “It’s a trap.”
“I know,” Bria said, turning to face him. “But I have to go.”
“You will not go anywhere,” her father ordered.
“Father, Mary will be killed if I don’t go. I can’t allow that. If I’d stayed with Mary in the beginning, maybe she wouldn’t have been taken. But I left her. I ran away.” Bria stood her ground. “I won’t make that mistake again.”
“No, you won’t,” her father said.
Bria didn’t like the tone in his voice. She didn’t like the intolerant look in his eyes. She scowled slightly. “Father, ever since you came back from the war –”
“You will not speak of it,” he commanded, moving his injured hand behind his back with his good one.
“We must speak of it. You hide behind your wounded hand. Instead of conquering it, you let it rule your life. You should be proud of it. You received it fighting for something you believed in. I haven’t seen you fight for something you believed in in a long time.”
“Enough!” her father roared. “I’ve heard enough of your speeches and your schemes. You can do no more for Mary than I can. If Knowles chooses to kill her, you will not interfere. He is your husband. You should obey him instead of fighting him and stealing from him.”
Bria glared at him for a long moment. Hurt and anger welled within her, but she refused to give in to it. “I used to admire you. You used to be strong and brave, a man I wanted to be like. Now all I have for you is pity.” With that, she whirled and stormed from the room.
Harry shifted his gaze to his son.
David Delaney turned away from his father’s piercing gaze, holding his useless arm close to his body. Harry saw the agony on his son’s face. “She’s right, you know,” Harry said gently. “You haven’t been the same since the war.”
David turned his back on Harry and gazed into the dying fire.
“I think you’re angry with her because you’re envious. You’d do the same thing... if you could.”
“The devil, you say!” Delaney spun and faced his father. “I’d have stood against Knowles without lying about it.”
Harry stepped forward and placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “You still can,” he said.
Bria stared down at the tunic in her hand. Who would have thought all those years ago when she and Mary and Garret had played the Midnight Shadow together that she’d become him? That the Midnight Shadow would be real?
Who would have thought all those years ago she would have fallen in love with the enemy? How could Terran execute Mary when he knew Mary was her friend? Bria clenched the fabric in her fist. It will end now, one way or the other.
Bria donned the black leggings and black tunic. A sense of destiny filled her, a sense of calm and direction. She bent to the bed to pick up the cloaked hood and stared at it for a long moment.
For Garrett. For Mary. For the people who had been wronged and robbed and beaten by Kenric.
She would face Kenric and defeat him. She was no longer afraid of him. But what of Terran? Could she confront him? Could she beat him? Would she have to?
Bria finished dressing and raised the black hood over her head to become the Midnight Shadow once more.
MIDNIGHT SHADOW
CHAPTER FORTY
Terran stood silently in the Great Hall, staring into the flickering flames of the hearth, his arm resting on the stone mantel, a mug of ale dangling from his fingertips. But he didn’t see the orange-red flames biting at the logs, nor did he see the brown bark turn to charcoal black as it burned, and he was completely oblivious to the gray and white smoke swirling up from the fire. All he could see in his mind’s eye were two blue eyes. Two startlingly blue eyes staring at him from behind a mask.
Kenric stood behind him, his words barely heard. “Oh, how she begged for mercy,” he chuckled, “looking up at me with that piteous face. My mercy. As if I have any to give!” Kenric laughed aloud.
Terran ground his teeth. He’d known his cousin had a vicious streak, but to hear him talk about the girl like this made his stomach turn. She was just bait to catch much larger prey. Innocent bait... he pushed aside the memory of Bria’s voice defending her friend.
Not only would he capture the Midnight Shadow. His ploy would also show him who the t
raitors were. He wasn’t sure which of his men sided with Kenric. He had to expose them all or he could never keep Bria safe.
“She was trembling so much she could barely –”
But how could he defeat him if he didn’t know how many loyal men would fight Kenric’s traitorous dogs? He clenched his teeth. “Is the trap set for dusk?” he asked, cutting off his cousin.
Kenric nodded. “Aye,” he replied. “I’ll have men stationed around the walls and throughout the crowd. Double posts of guards near both gatehouses.”
“Leave the gates open so it’s easier for him to get in,” Terran ordered.
“He’ll get in, but he won’t get out.” Kenric smiled. “After tonight, the Midnight Shadow will no longer be a threat.”
Kenric leaned against the wall of one of the battlements, his gaze trained on Terran. His cousin spoke earnestly with the farmer who’d found Bria after Kenric had poisoned her.
Sir William joined him. He glanced around, his gaze coming to rest on Terran in the courtyard below. “Everything is going as planned. The men are ready.”
Kenric nodded his head, but remained quiet.
Below them, Terran nodded and clasped the farmer’s arm before turning toward the keep.
Kenric shook his head. “He’s never concerned himself with the peasants before.” His eyes narrowed. “What’s he up to?”
Terran stared down at the inner courtyard from his room in the keep. People packed the small square from stone wall to stone wall. He found himself transfixed by the play of events outside his window; he hadn’t moved for hours, watching as the usual traffic of carts and peasants and merchants gave way to meandering knights and curious farmers. They formed a massive sea of eager onlookers, all eyes locked on the execution platform in the middle of the courtyard.
“It’s time, Terran.”
Kenric stood in the doorway. Terran nodded to his cousin, but for a moment he couldn’t move. The thought of what was to come left him momentarily paralyzed. Am I doing the right thing? he wondered. Will this trap work? What if the Midnight Shadow gets killed? What if Bria... He forced the questions to stop lest they drive him mad.
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